Our Story
In 1977, Jim and Jeanna Rard started a new boatyard, Marine Servicenter, in a little shop on the west side of Lake Union in Seattle, WA. When word went out on how customer service driven the company was, boat brands started calling, and the business expanded to include new and used yacht sales. In 1991 the business expanded to Anacortes, WA, where a second boatyard was opened along with yacht dry storage and a marine store.
In May of 2020, after 43 years in the boatyard business, Jim and Jeanna sold the boatyard portion of Marine Servicenter. They did this to open the door for long-time employee and Vice President, Dan Krier, to take the reins of Marine Servicenter. Dan started working for Marine Servicenter in 1999 and quickly became the Vice President of Sales in 2000.
Dan’s passion is working with people, sailing & boating, and matching people to boats that fit their needs. Dan’s vision was not to own and operate a boatyard but rather to have key Service Managers in place to provide top-notch hands-on after-sales care to customers who purchase boats with the company. The “heavy lifting” duties of the boatyard would then be outsourced to existing yards with the same high-end customer service model Marine Servicenter had always been known for.
In January 2021, Dan and his wife Lisa purchased Marine Servicenter and sent the Rards into a well-deserved retirement phase of their lives. Dan’s first order of business as the new owner was to expand the sales department to include two new locations in Bellingham, WA., and San Diego, CA.
Our Bellingham sales office is at 1801 Roeder Ave Ste #128 and includes prime 40’ & 50’ slips at Gate 12 of Squalicum Harbor next to the Bellwether Hotel and Anthony’s Restaurant. This marina area consists of underground parking, and a luxury feel much like the center of a ski resort. Our new “Northern WA.” sales office location is very convenient to Vancouver, BC, and for residents north of downtown Seattle. The Bellingham office replaced the small sales office/ dry storage that Marine Servicenter had at the boatyard under the Rard’s ownership.
Our San Diego office is located at 2700 Shelter Island Drive, where the front of the office is right off Shelter Island Drive, with great foot traffic and fantastic market exposure. The back door has a roll-up garage door next to it for access to the Driscoll’s Intrepid “clean” boatyard right out our back door, where our full-time Service Manager and his team commission new boats. These new boats end up on our sales/ delivery dock next to the yard and right off America’s Cup Promenade within sight of Shelter Island Drive and the Ketch Restaurant.
Our Seattle sales office is located on Lake Union on the iconic “Westlake” row of Boat Dealers/ Brokers at 2442 Westlake Avenue N. We have a fantastic new 2-story stand-alone building with incredible views of the lake and all of the boats for sale. You are directly on the docks outside our back door, where we have our dedicated moorage basin filled with boats for sale. Ironically, this is the exact location where the Rards started the company in 1977!
Marine Servicenter has always been known for its after-sales service and commitment to the customer. With the sale of the boatyard, our focus is now 100% on boat buyers/owners and providing top-notch after-sales care and parts services for the brands we sell new. Our seven full-time Certified Professional Yacht Brokers are boaters! We cruise, sail, fish, run powerboats, some liveaboard, and some race sailboats. Combined, we have well over a century of boating experience to share with you. We would love to help you fulfill your boating dreams. We can locate your perfect boat anywhere in the world or next door. We will be with you step by step and guide you not only through the purchase of your new boat but well beyond.
Give us a call, shoot an email, or better yet, stop into our Seattle, Bellingham, or San Diego locations and let us help you start your life on the water. After all, life is too short to sit at the dock!